What immense joy there is in walking alongside new believers! There are also many challenges and we ask for your prayers for Margarita as she grows in her faith. Please join us in praying for her as she single parents her kids (two and five years old) and as she seeks out community with other believers. Thank you for your prayers; they make a difference!
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Imagine being far from home and family at the holidays. Many of the women at Quito's prison are foreigners in that very situation. Our church here supports a year-round prison outreach in both Spanish and English in order to reach the maximum number of ladies. Beth will be headed to prison for the first time this December to lead music for a Christmas service for 300+ inmates. Please pray that the Spanish and English songs will bring comfort and joy, but most importantly, will communicate the freedom to be found in Christ!
Please also lift Beth up this month as she leads a musical kindergarten chapel and as she continues to play guitar regularly for women's Bible studies.
THE TRUE HARVEST
Thanksgiving is one of my (Dave's) favorite holiday, with food, friends and family. Even though the majority of my students aren't Americans and are unfamiliar with the Thanksgiving feast, they have helped me reflect this year on a deeper hunger: for the spiritual satisfaction of a life of eternal significance. Jesus' words to his disciples concerning food have made more sense to me this Thanksgiving:
God has given several of my students this year a passionate desire to do his will through missionary work. Over the summer, two of my students served as short-term missionaries. They were bursting with excitement to share with me how the power and hope of the gospel we talk so much about in class became real and alive during their trips to China and Tibet.
H., one of these students, is currently working with me on an independent study about missions, as she prepares to dedicate her life to missionary work in China. She is learning Chinese from V., a Chinese student of mine. V. also has her heart and mind set on bringing the gospel to her Communist family. She is taking my World Religions and Cults class and has mentioned on several occasions how helpful this course has been as she thinks about returning to China.
During this season of Thanksgiving I am grateful to be reminded by my students of the true feast set before us of doing God's will. May we all have the same passion to pursue God's design to reconcile all people to himself.
With thankful hearts,
Dave & Beth Saavedra
